Unfortunately, on the web, competing browsers have different standards for fonts. If a browser does not have the font you have chosen, then it will revert to the default - usually Times Roman, or Courier fonts. It is best to design for Netscape 3.0 since the computer labs at the PSU library use this browser.

Serif types are highly readable. Serif's hooks, feet, and brackets - and the differential between the thick and thin parts - contribute to its legibility, and, the more legible a typeface, the more readable it is. Don't forget, however, that a reader's motivation can overcome readability problems. Sometimes creating a proper image is your objective, and therefore readability is secondary. -

For example:

• Times Roman works well, is neutral and easy on the eye, and most browsers read this font
• Goudy Old Style, conservative reads larger than Times Roman at the same point size,
• Book Antiqua, easy to read, neutral, appropriate for reports, magazine, not all browsers support this font

Sans Serif is perceived as modem, cosmopolitan, scientific, and up-to-date. While people read sans serif type faster, they also tend to read it less accurately. Because readers are more motivated to read your headlines or titles than they are to read the body text, and because headings tend to be short, using a typeface they recognize and that is quick to read makes sense.

For example:

• Arial, Narrow font and legible, use as heading font
• Helvetica label very legible, use as body text font
• Comic Sans, more creative and fanciful, do not over use

In the following examples, all different typefaces are printed in 12 point. Notice the difference in width of letters can make the font look smaller or larger.

A website may use: